Welcome To Ravenwood, Get Your Adventure Here
by Excalibur1533
Summary: My whole life, I've always wanted to attend Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. Now that I'm here, there are so many things to do and places to see. In fact, while I'm here, I might even find something besides magic: friendship, adventure, romance. This story has it all. My name is Scot McLaughlin, and this is the story of me, my friends, and our adventures here in Wizard City.
1. Chapter 1

The sky was bright with afternoon light as I stepped onto the teleport pad, leaving my home world of Lostralia for the first time in my fifteen years. The space around me blurred and distorted, and I was instantly in a bustling city center. I was surrounded by people and noise, and the sheer magnitude of it all was overwhelming after the quiet, simple villages of Lostralia.

However, among the chaos, a sign nearby caught my eye. It was a large banner, only temporarily erected, and it read, "New Students This Way", with a small arrow pointing down the street. Not knowing where else to go, I followed the sign to a group of young teens about my age gathered around a man in a dark blue robe with yellow stars. On his shoulder sat a monocled owl, and he held a wooden staff with a glittering golden spiral emblem on the end.

It seemed he was just about to begin speaking, so I quickly moved up and took a place in the crowd of presumably new students.' "Welcome, all, to the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts!" announced the man. "I know that we'll all have a great year, it before we can get you settled we have a few things to take care of."

"It won't take long," he added, hearing the groans of a few of the most eager students. "I am Merle Ambrose, your headmaster, and the founder of the school. Firstly, I would like to say that Ravenwood is very prestigious, and you all must show much potential, since you have been accepted to one of our seven specialized schools. Congratulations are in order. Secondly, I would like to lay out a few basic rules, although the full code of conduct can be found on the bulletin board in the front of campus. You may not go anywhere in Wizard City that is deemed too dangerous. Next, there will not be any out of control partying, and if any boys are found in the female dormitories past 10 PM, disciplinary action will be taken. The same goes for you ladies. Finally, you will be split into groups for the tour. You will not be in a group with those of your school, so make friends now, as you won't often be put into groups with students from other schools. In the first group are: Andrew Beckenson, Jane Truden, Scot McLaughin, and James Conda. They will be shown around by Rebecca Jannis."

He continued to list off names. After he had finished calling out all 23 new students, he explained "Your student guides will explain more. Thank you all for tolerating my dragging on, and have a good year." In a flash of light, the headmaster and his owl were gone.

I glanced around me, wondering how I would identify my group, when there was a flash of light in the corner of my eyes. I looked down to see that around my chest hung a small brass plate with the words Scot McLaughlin on it that had not been there before._ Name tags_, I realized. _Works for me_.

I moved towards a group of two boys and a girl, and stuck out my hand. "Scot," I greeted them cheerfully. A boy about my height, slightly above average, with short dark hair and bright green eyes grabbed my hand and shook it. "James." he said, a grin on his face. "James Conda." Next to him stood a tall boy who towered above the rest of us, with blue eyes, and short, curly tan hair. He too put out his hand and grasped mine. "I'm Andrew." he said simply, seemingly even more stunned by the city than the rest of us were, if that was possible.

At last I turned to the third member of the group, a girl who seemed to be the same age as the rest of us, and therefore must be the last member of our group rather than our guide, a fact which her name tag confirmed. Her eyes were almond brown, and she was petite, but not short. Her brown hair flowed down to her waist, and it hung loosely, not in a bun or ponytail but just drifting.

I realized after a moment that she too had put her hand out, but I had just let my hand sit while I examined her. I blushed slightly as I shook her hand, and she smiled shyly and said, "Hi. I'm Jane." before cutting off quickly and looking away at an older student who approached our group. The other girl looked at us, squinted her eyes to read our name tags, and called out to us, "Hey. You guys my group? I'm Rebecca."

No one said anything for a moment, but James finally stepped forward and explained, "I think so. Rebecca Jannis?" She nodded her affirmation, her bright red ponytail bobbing. Rebecca turned and began a brisk walk, then turned when no one followed. "What are you waiting for? A personal invitation? C'mon." she said, gesturing impatiently in front of her. "We've got a lot to see before tonight."

**To be continued next time... Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get his out and hopefully see what anyone thinks to make a few revisions before releasing the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the Commons, the central area of the city. It has the library, most of the campus, and a few residential districts. It has things like the concert hall, and Wizard City's own Chef Halan, of the restaurant Malumar, featuring Mooshu cuisine." explained Becca as she gestured to each of the buildings in turn.

"This is the shopping district, where you'll do most of your, well, shopping. It also has the popular tourist spot Elik's Edge," continued Becca as she led us through the tunnel.

We moved through the shopping district as Becca pointed out, in turn, the different shops for everything we might need, including the grocer, the robe merchant, and the wand seller. After we had seen everywhere that we might need to go, Becca turned to us with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Officially, you aren't supposed to learn any magic before you start classes, but I know you want to learn, and I'm happy to disobey, because, frankly, I'm too lazy to walk. I'm going to teach you how to teleport!" she explained, grinning.

She reached into her back pocket, and pulled out four wands. Each was identical, a slender wooden shaft, topped with a curl of wire and a leaf that sprouted out. "Obviously, I didn't steal your new wands just so I could give them to you early, so you have to give these back to me. Unfortunately, I didn't have any wands with enough control measures for you to use-" "Control measures?" asked James. "They put them on wands and other equipment. It limits their power, but it helps you use it most effectively based on your skill level. Like training wheels." explained Jane. "Couldn't have put it better myself!" continued Becca.

"Anyways, you should be fine, since we're just teleporting. Alright, step one. On the ground beneath you, take the wand, and trace a symbol. It can be anything you can focus on, but I prefer X marks the spot." I bent down, and did as she said, tracing a simple x, and beneath the wand the cobblestone glowed blue.

"Now look around and remember your surroundings. Then, walk with me about twenty feet." said Becca once everyone had finished. "Focus on your mark and where it is, then repeat after me: locus transvenio." Becca did as she said, and in a brilliant flash of light, she reappeared back where we drew our marks.

I focused, filling my mind with the image of my previous location, and I lifted the wand. "Locus transvenio," I whispered, and my vision blurred. There in front of me was Becca, and twenty feet away was the street corner where I had just stood. I gasped. _My first spell! Awesome!_

I looked up, as, one by one, Jane, Andrew, and then James appeared near us. We all looked at each other and grinned. "That was so cool!" yelled James, practically jumping as he said it.

"Volume control!" yelled Becca in an equally loud tone, smacking him on the arm.

"First spell, huh?" asked a boy who suddenly stood next to us. He was blond, with dark black eyes and a sardonic grin.

"Mike!" greeted Becca. "Don't tell anyone! I'm not supposed to show them any magic!" Mike looked at her, appearing to consider. He sighed.

"I'm sorry, but Ambrose has to hear. We can't have you corrupting their minds now, could we?" he said, keeping a deadpan expression on his face.

Rebecca looked horrified, and that was when he lost it. Mike burst out laughing, and Becca glared at him, but he only laughed harder.

"Anyway, I have to move on, but see ya around, ok?" and with that he was gone, darting off into the crowd.

Becca turned to face us. "Now that you've met our resident jerk, let me show you Olde Town."

* * *

After showing us the bazaar and the three different streets in the residential district of olde town, firecat alley, cyclops lane, and triton avenue, Becca took us back to the dormitories.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow. Don't stay up late. You need to be up early!" she called as she departed.

I yawned._ I'm tired. Too many new things for one day._

"More new students?" called a high pitched voice behind us. I turned around and nearly fell over. Behind me stood a giant stork. In clothes. "Don't be alarmed. I'm Mr. Lincoln, the registrar." he nodded as he spoke. "Not much time for introductions now, that can wait until tomorrow. Your dorm rooms will be on your tags." he said with a wave of his wand. "And remember: boys are in the left dorm, girls are on the right. I don't have time for any...shenanigans tonight." He was gone as quickly as he had shown up.

_Room 16._ "I got 16!" yelled James as everyone announced their room numbers, looking for their roommates.

"Me too," I said, grinning. James seemed easy to get along with. "Cool!" yelled James. "I'll grab my suitcase." I did likewise, and then walked into the dormitory.

To my left there was a stairwell that ran around the edge of the building, but my room was on the first floor. I walked into a large common area, with lounge chairs, couches, and even a fireplace in the corner. There was a large red rug in the center, with the ravenwood crest in the center.

Around the edge of the circular room were 18 doors, each neatly labelled. I made my way to room 16, and before I could wonder how to open it, it slid back into a space in the wall when I came near._ It recognized me? That's amazing!_ I looked around.

The space was bare, a large square room with a bed in each of the far corners. At the foot of each bed was a large desk. Closer inspection of the room revealed a closet with a dresser on each side, and a small bathroom near the door. The showers, however, were up on the fifth floor.

I tossed my bag into the closet and collapsed onto the bed. Sleep soon overtook me, and I drifted off with thoughts of the next day and the amazing new things I would experience.


End file.
